By Patricia Martínez Sastre
Al Mughair, West Bank, Sep 1 (EFE).- The destruction of thousands of olive trees in Al Mughair, in the occupied West Bank, last week had left no one indifferent in this Palestinian village near Ramallah, while its neighbors insist the ultimate goal was revenge.
“They want revenge. (…) All these plans are just meant to send us a message: you have to lose hope and leave your land if you want a good life,” said Abu Naim, who owned 40 of those trees in this village of about 4,000 inhabitants.
Residents claim that over 10,000 olive trees were destroyed, though the army estimates that bulldozers uprooted only 3,100.
The destruction occurred while the village was under lockdown after an Israeli settler claimed he was shot at in the area on August 20.
The clearing, which began two days later, was supposedly intended to improve the Israeli army’s defenses, a military spokesman told EFE.
“I feel sad because they have destroyed everything, but I will not lose hope. I will plant again,” said Waheed Abu Naim, a Palestinian English teacher living in the village.
However, Avi Bluth, the senior officer who gave the order and head of the Israeli Army’s Central Command, revealed in statements leaked to the Israeli press that the motivations were different.
“Every village and every enemy must know that if they carry out an attack against the residents (settlers), they will pay a heavy price.They will experience a curfew, they will experience a siege, and they will experience shaping operations,” he told troops in Al Mughair.
The village was under military siege for more than 70 hours, until Aug. 24.
During that time, soldiers raided hundreds of homes, arrested about ten people — including the mayor, Amin Abu Alia, who was released on Sunday — and prevented Palestinians from leaving their homes.
According to Abu Naim, soldiers also intimidated people with dogs and looted jewelry and money.
Said Hussan Abu Alia, a 65-year-old resident, recalled that some of the trees were centuries old, predating the creation of the State of Israel.
Now, without them, a large area of land adjacent to the Alon Road, which cuts Al Mughair in two and is used by settlers, has been left completely barren, without a single olive tree to harvest.
“I feel frustrated. This is a crime,” said Hussan, who has lost more than 1,000 olive trees along with his brothers.
Since the start of the military offensive in Gaza almost two years ago, he added, Israel has denied them access to their land or given them only one day’s permission to harvest olives.
The harvest season will begin in a few weeks, but there are hardly any olive trees left.
“The occupation does not want us to live here, on our land, in peace. It wants to destroy everything,” he said.
Bluth’s statements have been considered by various human rights groups to be a possible war crime and have led to a complaint being filed with the military attorney general.
Noa Sattath, the Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which filed the complaint, said that the army had carried out collective punishment against Palestinians before, but they had never said they were doing it.
Abu Naim recalls how, during a military raid in Nov. 2024, twenty-six soldiers turned his house into a barracks.
They kicked his family out at dawn and displayed eight Israeli flags on the roof and terrace.
He said that in April 2024, armed settlers burned cars and homes under the protection of the army, and one even shot him in the chest, but he had no bullets left.
Another Al Mughair resident, whose house is surrounded by razor wire — supposedly to protect against settler attacks — said the army’s policy is part of the Israeli government’s plan to displace them.
“They took away our source of livelihood and cut down the trees. It’s all an attempt to drive us out.” This is the policy of a racist government,” he added. EFE
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